I want to write a blogpost about games and meta-games, inspired by that last post I retweeted. But I'm feeling sleepy, so let's try tweeting
1/ Let's define 'game' broadly– if you're in a context where you're trying to achieve some desired end-state, let's call it a game
2/ There's the "get rich" game, "happy family" game, "tech founder" game, "self discovery" game. All subsets of the Human Game (Alan Watts)
3/ Games can be simple, complex, easy, hard, strict, flexible. You could theoretically play your own, but multiplayer games are v compelling
4/ there's an exquisite joy in learning to enjoy a game for its own sake. Tea ceremonies. Meditation. Chopping wood. Dinner parties. But...
5/ Maybe b/c of social wiring, our minds are always eager for meta-games. The most popular meta-game is "my game is better than your game".
6/ And then you have people playing meta-meta-games, taking positions like "people who don't play meta-games are better than people who do"
7/ Let's backpedal and switch trains of thought. "Meta-games = Commentary About Games" is just ONE possible interpretation. And a boring one
8/ A more interesting, rich form of meta-game is "how do I influence the context in which my primary game takes place".
9/ So let's say you're a software developer. Your main game is just making software. Many possible meta-games emerge from that origin.
10/ You might want to make more software, or better software. You might need to work with others, or build better tools, or hire other ppl
11/ Bill Gates wanted to sell software. To do that he had to build a company. To do THAT he had to learn to hire&fire people. Tricky stuff!
12/ I never thought that I'd wanna be "an editor". All I knew was that I liked words. But I'm discovering that I like helping other writers.
13/ I guess that's how life gets interesting. You start with one of the many "stock" games, but over time you develop a rather unique config
14/ Anyway. If you're a curious person, it's unlikely that you'll REALLY just play one game really well for the rest of your life. (Boring.)
15/ To be more precise– to get better at a particular game (say, playing basketball), beyond a certain stage you have to learn meta-games
16/ Take Jordan or Bryant. They're basketballers. But they're more than that. They're experts at the meta-game of self-regulation.
17/ Actually, anybody who wants to play any game at a world-class level necessarily has to be a MASTERFUL self-regulator (or crash and burn)
18/ That's usually the real point of doing crazy hard things. Sometimes it's to prove others wrong, but often it becomes its own reward
19/ We're born into a world that tries to regulate us. Tell us what to do, think, feel. What to care about. Parents, teachers, peers, all.
20/ Self-regulation is a way of breaking free from all that, transcending it. It's a radical, political act. (It's also just another game.)
